diff --git a/swift/common/middleware/s3api/acl_handlers.py b/swift/common/middleware/s3api/acl_handlers.py
index dade81cec5..aa8d5509d4 100644
--- a/swift/common/middleware/s3api/acl_handlers.py
+++ b/swift/common/middleware/s3api/acl_handlers.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ Example::
 """
 from swift.common.middleware.s3api.subresource import ACL, Owner, encode_acl
 from swift.common.middleware.s3api.s3response import MissingSecurityHeader, \
-    MalformedACLError, UnexpectedContent
+    MalformedACLError, UnexpectedContent, AccessDenied
 from swift.common.middleware.s3api.etree import fromstring, XMLSyntaxError, \
     DocumentInvalid
 from swift.common.middleware.s3api.utils import MULTIUPLOAD_SUFFIX, \
@@ -206,6 +206,9 @@ class BucketAclHandler(BaseAclHandler):
         req_acl = ACL.from_headers(self.req.headers,
                                    Owner(self.user_id, self.user_id))
 
+        if not self.req.environ.get('swift_owner'):
+            raise AccessDenied()
+
         # To avoid overwriting the existing bucket's ACL, we send PUT
         # request first before setting the ACL to make sure that the target
         # container does not exist.
diff --git a/swift/common/middleware/s3api/s3request.py b/swift/common/middleware/s3api/s3request.py
index a144ccc645..b075c363e1 100644
--- a/swift/common/middleware/s3api/s3request.py
+++ b/swift/common/middleware/s3api/s3request.py
@@ -1350,6 +1350,9 @@ class S3AclRequest(S3Request):
             # tempauth
             self.user_id = self.access_key
 
+        sw_req.environ.get('swift.authorize', lambda req: None)(sw_req)
+        self.environ['swift_owner'] = sw_req.environ.get('swift_owner', False)
+
         # Need to skip S3 authorization on subsequent requests to prevent
         # overwriting the account in PATH_INFO
         del self.headers['Authorization']
diff --git a/test/functional/s3api/test_bucket.py b/test/functional/s3api/test_bucket.py
index ce508b5c34..451dfbd47c 100644
--- a/test/functional/s3api/test_bucket.py
+++ b/test/functional/s3api/test_bucket.py
@@ -151,7 +151,11 @@ class TestS3ApiBucket(S3ApiBase):
 
         self.conn.make_request('PUT', 'bucket')
         status, headers, body = self.conn.make_request('PUT', 'bucket')
-        self.assertEqual(get_error_code(body), 'BucketAlreadyExists')
+        # If the user can't create buckets, they shouldn't even know
+        # whether the bucket exists. For some reason, though, when s3_acl
+        # is disabled, we translate 403 -> BucketAlreadyExists??
+        self.assertIn(get_error_code(body),
+                      ('AccessDenied', 'BucketAlreadyExists'))
 
     def test_put_bucket_with_LocationConstraint(self):
         bucket = 'bucket'
diff --git a/test/unit/common/middleware/s3api/__init__.py b/test/unit/common/middleware/s3api/__init__.py
index d2d8ce2591..7963e615c3 100644
--- a/test/unit/common/middleware/s3api/__init__.py
+++ b/test/unit/common/middleware/s3api/__init__.py
@@ -106,7 +106,8 @@ class S3ApiTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         elem = fromstring(body, 'Error')
         return elem.find('./Message').text
 
-    def _test_method_error(self, method, path, response_class, headers={}):
+    def _test_method_error(self, method, path, response_class, headers={},
+                           env={}):
         if not path.startswith('/'):
             path = '/' + path  # add a missing slash before the path
 
@@ -117,8 +118,8 @@ class S3ApiTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         self.swift.register(method, uri, response_class, headers, None)
         headers.update({'Authorization': 'AWS test:tester:hmac',
                         'Date': self.get_date_header()})
-        req = swob.Request.blank(path, environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': method},
-                                 headers=headers)
+        env.update({'REQUEST_METHOD': method})
+        req = swob.Request.blank(path, environ=env, headers=headers)
         status, headers, body = self.call_s3api(req)
         return self._get_error_code(body)
 
diff --git a/test/unit/common/middleware/s3api/helpers.py b/test/unit/common/middleware/s3api/helpers.py
index 71d31f6238..63a4839800 100644
--- a/test/unit/common/middleware/s3api/helpers.py
+++ b/test/unit/common/middleware/s3api/helpers.py
@@ -53,9 +53,15 @@ class FakeSwift(object):
         env['REMOTE_USER'] = 'authorized'
 
         if env['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'TEST':
-            # AccessDenied by default at s3acl authenticate
-            env['swift.authorize'] = \
-                lambda req: swob.HTTPForbidden(request=req)
+
+            def authorize_cb(req):
+                # Assume swift owner, if not yet set
+                req.environ.setdefault('swift_owner', True)
+                # But then default to blocking authz, to ensure we've replaced
+                # the default auth system
+                return swob.HTTPForbidden(request=req)
+
+            env['swift.authorize'] = authorize_cb
         else:
             env['swift.authorize'] = lambda req: None
 
diff --git a/test/unit/common/middleware/s3api/test_bucket.py b/test/unit/common/middleware/s3api/test_bucket.py
index e98e0e03ac..8346fcc847 100644
--- a/test/unit/common/middleware/s3api/test_bucket.py
+++ b/test/unit/common/middleware/s3api/test_bucket.py
@@ -498,6 +498,12 @@ class TestS3ApiBucket(S3ApiTestCase):
             swob.HTTPCreated)
         self.assertEqual(code, 'InvalidBucketName')
 
+    @s3acl(s3acl_only=True)
+    def test_bucket_PUT_error_non_owner(self):
+        code = self._test_method_error('PUT', '/bucket', swob.HTTPAccepted,
+                                       env={'swift_owner': False})
+        self.assertEqual(code, 'AccessDenied')
+
     @s3acl
     def test_bucket_PUT(self):
         req = Request.blank('/bucket',